By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn men's basketball team won its sixth game in a row Saturday, wrapping up a 19-9 regular season with an 85-59 MIAA win over Emporia State in White Auditorium.
The Ichabods have earned the No. 4 seed in the MIAA Citizens Bank and Trust Postseason Tournament and will face the same Hornet squad at 6 p.m. Friday in Kansas City, Mo. in the tournament quarterfinals.
The Ichabods jumped out a an 8-3 lead behind four straight buckets by Jonny Clausing to start the game, but back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers by Tray Buchanan with a 3 from Jalen Lewis sandwiched in between a layup from Lewis and a layup by ESU's Jumah'Ri Turner gave ESU (19-9, 16-6 MIAA) its last lead of the game at 14-13,
But the Ichabods hit 4 of 6 3-pointers over a six-minute stretch to take a 27-21 lead midway through the opening half.
Jalen Lewis led Washburn with 23 points in Saturday's 85-59 road victory at Emporia State. [File photo/TSN]
ESU cut the lead to four at 30-26 with 5:38 to play in the half, but back to back 3-pointers by Tyler Nelson and a layup by Kevaughn Ellis and a layup by Tyler Geiman sent the Ichabods to the halftime break with a 40-33 lead.
Starting the second half, the Ichabods came out with a 10-0 run, hitting their first four shots of the half, to push out to a 17-point lead at 50-33.
ESU eventually cut the lead down to 10 with 6:55 to play, but a 15-0 Ichabod run put the game out of reach and Washburn led by as many as 26 points as the Ichabods swept the regular-season series.
Lewis led the Ichabods with 23 points, hitting five 3-pointers in 10 attempts, and pacing three other Ichabods in double figures.
Clausing had 17 points while hitting 8 of 9 shots in the game. Michael Keegan scored 14 and Geiman finished with 12 points, recording a double-double with 11 assists giving him 696 assists in his career.
Buchanan scored 16 points in 16 minutes before leaving the game and Turner had 11.
Washburn finished the game shooting 50 percent (33 of 66) from the field while Emporia State was held to 38 percent shooting (24 of 64).
Washburn outrebounded the Hornets 38-33 in the game.
WU WOMEN DROP 79-77 HEARTBREAKER
The Washburn women's basketball team rallied from a 17-point deficit in the third quarter and took its first lead of the game with 90 seconds left in regulation, but a late foul call helped set up the game-winning jump shot to give Emporia State the 79-77 victory in Saturday's regular-season finale.
The Ichabods (13-15, 11-11 MIAA) now turn their attention to next week's MIAA Championship Tournament as the No. 9 seed. Washburn will take on the No. 8 seed Pittsburg State in the first round at noon on March 3 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
Hunter Bentley
Abby Oliver
Emporia State (15-13, 10-12 MIAA) jumped out to a 14-1 lead in the first 4:34 of the game and held a 21-11 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
A 6-0 run by Washburn trimmed Emporia State's lead to 29-23 with 3:58 in the first half, but the Lady Hornets extended their lead with three triples and made a jump shot right before the buzzer to go up 44-31 at halftime.
Emporia State took its largest lead of the game at 52-35 with 7:06 on the clock in the third frame when Washburn started its comeback with an 11-0 burst.
After the Lady Hornets stopped the run with a 3-pointer, Washburn started another scoring tear with six unanswered points to make it a 55-52 game at the 3:06 mark. The teams traded baskets in the final two minutes and Emporia State led 63-57 heading to the fourth quarter.
Trailing 75-69 with 3:53 to go, Abby Oliver made a layup to start an 8-0 run to give Washburn its first lead of the game at 77-75 with 1:30 remaining. Oliver scored six of the eight points during that run.
ESU went 1 of 2 at the free throw line at the 38 second mark to put the score at 77-76 and on Washburn's ensuing possession, a jump ball was the official call and the arrow pointed in ESU's direction.
A technical foul was issued to Washburn's head coach Ron McHenry after the jump ball decision and the Lady Hornets' Tre'Zure Jobe went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe again to level the score at 77.
ESU got its final possession started with 33 seconds remaining and Jobe hit the go-ahead jumper with three seconds left and Washburn's half court heave was off line as the buzzer sounded.
The Ichabods finished the game shooting just under 50 percent, making 29-of-59 from the floor, while the Lady Hornets had a 46.8 field goal percentage (29-of-62).
WU outrebounded ESU, 37-27.
Hunter Bentley played all 40 minutes and led the Ichabods with 20 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals. Oliver also scored 20 points to set a new career-high.
Nuria Barrientos was 8 of 14 from the field for a season-best 18 points.
All seven Lady Hornets who played scored at least three points, led by Ehlaina Hartman's 21 points.
